Those of you with kids have probably heard from them that the District Writing Assessment is coming up. You would think that after us kids have done seven DWAs that the teachers would relax a little and not do practice after practice the week before the the test, but no, so far we have done five practice essays.

Here at Register World Headquarters, we constantly field questions about how people can get their information into the paper: Press releases and listings for the calendar, photos of your community group or family or coworkers; announcements of fundraisers and gatherings; letters to the editor and news tips and even pictures of the beasts with whom you share your lives.

We’re told over and over again: “You’re a Democrat, Republican or a wasted vote.” We vote accordingly, and then we’re dumbfounded, yet ever loyal, when our party’s actions run contrary to its promises, or when the Democrats continue the controversial policies of the Republicans and vice versa. In this left-right-left-right march into “perpetual war for perpetual peace,” the “legal plunder” of socialism, and the serfdom of excessive debt, what matters most isn’t freedom, morality or even the truth; what matters most is our party wins and they endorse it.

This article expresses many of the things that I am concerned about in the stimulus package, and is the part of the package that I think is the biggest mistake.

A social experiment in online decorum has resulted in tremendous online progress for our Web site and our readers. We have reached a point where almost all of our readers are staying on topic and not attacking the messenger.

On the west side of Howell Mountain Road, in the heart of Angwin, is a large open field surrounded by forested hills.

Dear editor, First of all, I will need some proof that there are four counties in California that have roads that are worse than ours.

Dear editor, I was pondering the reason why California is in an almost $50 billion deficit hole and our wonderful Legislature is struggling to find a solution after seven months of “negotiations.” So, I took a look at the state Web site and I’ll be darned if I didn’t find a big reason for the problem — it’s them!

Abel Maldonado in the Senate has just agreed to vote yes on the deal drawn up by the Governor and top legislators. Although no one is reporting exact details yet, from what we are hearing it looks like a bad deal for Californians. Fortunately voters will have a chance to vote on three parts of it in June and could knock the whole thing down.

This week Napa County began a process of examining what to do about the enormous deficits in pensions due to the meltdown of the stock market. Pension and actuarial expert John Bartel presented an actuarial analysis on Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors to begin this process.

Fire out your thoughts here on your topic of the day that is not covered through a Register.com article or opinion item.